Article excerpt

The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in Washington, D.C., District
Court against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on May 2,
seeking to ensure that the federal agency enforces a state plan that
monitors and reduces pollution from Oklahoma coal-fired power
plants.

The Sierra Club warned the EPA in February that the lawsuit was
coming in 60 days if the agency failed to act, the environmental
group said in a statement.

No action was taken, so the Sierra Club followed through, said
Whitney Pearson, associate field organizer for group's Oklahoma
chapter.

"Sierra Club brought this citizen suit because EPA must act to
either approve or disapprove the state's plan to address these
excess harmful emissions," Pearson said. "What we ultimately expect
out of this action is to end the free pass that large polluters
currently have which allows them to emit unlimited amounts of
pollution during certain phases of their operations. Because people
need to breathe all the time, limits of the amount of pollution that
polluters can emit need to apply all the time. This case is one step
in getting to that point."

The EPA will review the details of the Sierra Club lawsuit, said
Dave Bary, EPA Region 6 spokesman.

"EPA will discuss with the Sierra Club and the state of Oklahoma
the next appropriate steps in this legal matter," Bary said.

The plants involved include the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co.'s
Muskogee plant, Pearson said. OG&E has another coal-fired power
plant, Sooner Station, in Red Rock.

Brian Alford, OG&E spokesman, said the company will have to wait
for an outcome.

"So, once we know what this process will be, rest assured we will
follow that process, once we know what that is," Alford said. …

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The Christian Science Monitor, April 11, 1995